First, let’s get the easy part out of the way. Congrats to Missouri for a well-deserved win. The Tigers were the better prepared, better coached team. That they put the game away after they lost James Franklin says everything you need to know about which team had the better mindset on the day.

With that in mind, this was a winnable game for the Dawgs, injuries notwithstanding. But they shot themselves too many times in the foot. I wrote yesterday that “(i)f Georgia gets [consistent line play] today and avoids playing the role of generous host, I think that will be enough to overcome the injury concerns and what’s likely to be another… um, interesting day from the secondary.” It turned out the Dawgs got none of the above and lost the game as a result.

On to the bullet points.

I was impressed with Bobo’s playcalling on Georgia’s first scoring drive. He was understandably conservative throughout the game, especially early, but I thought he made terrific use of his resources on that drive.

Two special teams time outs. Jeebus.

There weren’t many penalties called on the Dawgs, but it seemed like every one the defense drew was significant in terms of extending Missouri drives. I’ve already ranted about the roughing the passer call, but the two pass interference penalties on throws that wouldn’t have gotten first downs had me shaking my head. And of course the one time a pass interference penalty would have been helpful – the Sasser 40-yard TD pass to put Mizzou back up by eight – Wiggins didn’t interfere and save a touchdown.

What has happened to Jordan Jenkins?

The offensive line had a mixed day. There were stretches – noticeably on the first scoring drive and throughout the third quarter – when the blocking was fine. Georgia rushed for over 160 yards with two true freshmen and Georgia outgained Missouri on the day. But the line disappeared for stretches and the offense bogged down as a result. The tackles had a hard time with Missouri’s speed rushers and whiffed on a couple of blitzes. Murray as a result seemed noticeably more jittery in the second half.

Same for the defensive line. There were four sacks and they did a decent job of handling Missouri’s running game. When the line couldn’t put up any resistance, there wasn’t anyone in the back seven who stepped up to help. The three first-half Missouri scoring drives were like watching a warm knife do its thing with butter.

The killer play to me, though, was Mauk picking up the third-and-six on that crucial fourth quarter scoring drive. That one wasn’t on Grantham, as the defense was in position to make the play. It looked like somebody (Herrera?) simply didn’t wrap up the tackle.

Wiggins gave up two big plays at the end and was still the better cornerback on the day. He will keep getting better and for me was the biggest ray of hope for the defense.

I can’t say for sure how much of a toll the injuries took. They missed Matthews on defense, but the running backs were at least serviceable and there were receivers making plays. But there’s no doubt the disaster that was the last six minutes of the second quarter did take one. Georgia hadn’t played facing that kind of deficit in a long time, and while the team deserves huge props for the effort it made in the third quarter on both sides of the ball to claw back into the game, they finally ran out of gas in the emotional tank. Before the game started, Georgia didn’t have to play perfectly to win, but once the second half started, it did. That’s asking an awful lot out of a team missing key players.

But didn’t you just know that Georgia was going to tie the game after the missed extra point? I did.

Of course, that feeling dissipated a few minutes later with Aaron Murray’s interception. Sigh.

Ray Drew is living up to his recruiting hype.

How many missed tackles were there on that Josey touchdown run? I lost count after three.

Against Tennessee, a Georgia defender jumps at the line of scrimmage and makes a UT lineman flinch. Penalty, Georgia. Yesterday, a Missouri defender jumps at the line of scrimmage and makes a Georgia lineman flinch. Penalty, Georgia. At least the refs are consistent.

Can’t get too upset with Douglas for his fumble. Yeah, everyone says don’t try to stay up and keep fighting in that situation. But that’s easier said that done for a freshman back giving his all on a crucial drive. (By the way, I hope Bobo doesn’t have too many more calls for Douglas running east-west, as it’s not something he’s built for.)

On the other hand, the missed block that led to the sack and touchdown was inexcusable.

I wonder if the game would have gone differently if Wooten doesn’t go down on that shoestring tackle.

No, it’s not the end of the world, at least if the team doesn’t get down on itself. Missouri’s schedule gets increasingly difficult the rest of the way and you’ve got to think losing Franklin for at least a few of those games won’t help. Georgia still holds the tiebreaker over South Carolina. The season, as we all sort of suspected, will come down to Jacksonville, most likely, and that’s looking like a meeting of two flawed teams. If the Dawgs can get by Vandy – and it’s not as if the Commodores have played like world beaters – there’s a well-timed bye week and a good chance that several key players will be back from injuries in time for the Gators.

The secondary is a gaping wound, of course, and the primary reason we’ll be on edge for the rest of the year, Appy State excepted. The good thing is that there isn’t another top flight passing attack left to face in the regular season. The bad thing is that’s what we thought about Tennessee. This team needs to recognize that it has to play week in and week out with little margin for error. Because there really isn’t any.

Aaron Murray felt like he had to carry everything. That, plus the pressure, caused a few second half brain farts that produced freshman Aaron Murray type stuff. But you can’t fault him for being frustrated; quite a few catchable balls slipped through hands.

There were other cases where he threw the ball to a spot and the inexperienced receivers did not get to that spot. Was particularly noticeable on one drive in the second half when Griese started saying AM was “off” because of underthrown balls. Balls like the back-shoulder pass he’s made a living off of that a receiver must know is coming…like the long one to Davis that RD did not really slow down for.

Bluto, if ever there was a time, this would be it: I want to commend you for the job you do with this blog in always being a voice if reason for the Dawgnation. Your blog is fair in both compliments and critiques. Thank you.

As for the Dawgs, yesterday was a great disappointment, but there is still much for which to play. If we go on to win the SEC (still very possible), I believe we’ll look back on this season as a tremendous success given the injuries. The defense is inexcusable, but it is what it is at this point. We’ve got some great kids who have scratched and clawed their way through an unbelievably tough schedule and they’re still very much in play for some hardware. I can’t remember a UGA team with this much fight in them. I’m still proud today to be a Georgia Bulldog. Let’s keep our heads up and continue to support our kids as they will need it the rest of the way. Go Dawgs!

I agree, when Russ Tanner laughed about “the message boards” Friday on the radio he wasn’t talking about Bluto. He was talking about people that think the University of Georgia football program is “accountable” to them. Baloney.

LITTLE PICTURE: The defense will get better overall as it gains experience; we’ll get Bennett and Gurley back from injury, which will help both our offense *and* our defense; and I think Missouri will likely lose a couple upcoming conference games, so *if* we win out, we’re back in Atlanta.

BIG PICTURE: The disparity between Georgia, on the one hand, and Bama and LSU, on the other hand, is as drastic as it’s ever been, especially on defense. (And if we’re focusing only on defense, I might as well throw Florida into that comparison class.) By the middle of Grantham’s 2nd season, it really felt like we were headed in that general direction. But ever since, it’s been just the opposite. And at this point, we have no good reason to think that things will change any time soon. We’ve forced 5 turnovers this season, and not even all of those can be credited to the defense. That number puts us dead last in the SEC, and above only Troy, Temple, and UTSA nationally. And the main reason for this is not bad luck (see: Richt’s past comments about the ball just not bouncing our way). The main reason is that our defenders are usually *nowhere near the f’ing ball*. In 2011, we were 3rd in the SEC in opponent 3rd-down conversions. Then we dropped to 7th last season, despite having one of the most talented D’s I’ve ever seen. And we’re currently 13th, about half a percentage point better than Kentucky. And as someone else pointed out in another thread, we’re giving up 30-point games like it’s our damned job. Spare me the bullshit about how “college football is changing,” and high scores are the new normal. Bama, LSU, and Florida (and even Auburn!) seem not to have gotten the memo, as they’re all holding opponents to 22 points or less.

Can the “little picture” kinks get worked out this season? I doubt it, but maybe. But is there any reason whatsoever to suspect that the “big picture” is improving, or will improve at any point in the near future? As far as I can tell, no. Even with so many offensive starters out yesterday, the overall talent disparity on the field was astounding. And yet we still got our asses handed to us. And that talent disparity will arguably be even wider against Vandy … but will *anyone* be surprised if Vandy keeps this thing competitive, and perhaps even wins? If so, you’re delusional.

Not calling for anyone to be fired. Not saying I won’t faithfully watch every game for the remainder of the season. Just saying that things are much worse than the coaching staff, and many of the fans — even myself, earlier in the season — seem prepared to admit.

I’m just thankful that I went to grad school at a university with a basketball team that actually lives up to the hype of being a national championship contender. Gives me something to look forward to whenever Georgia starts pissing away its BCS hopes.

Have we played a tougher overall schedule? No doubt about it. But keep in mind, this is also a down year for LSU on defense, as they were similarly decimated by the draft. They expected a drop-off this season, and sure enough, they’ve dropped from 3rd in total defense (in 2012) all the way down to … 4th.

In the meantime, have our defensive numbers improved since that understandably brutal September? Not noticeably. In fact, in some areas, we’ve gotten *even worse*.

So do I think there’s a recognizable disparity between us and the two perennial contenders in the West? Yes.

At this point, yeah, it’s hard to deny that Chavis is better than Grantham.

I think the over-signing issue is a little less clear. On the one hand, it certainly contributes to LSU’s better overall talent levels. But on the other hand, in many cases, it’s not a failure to over-sign that kills UGA. Rather, it’s simply a failure to sign an appropriate number of players according to position needs.

Yes, we made a good stop. That definitely renders all of the other statistics meaningless. Good argument.

In the meantime, my claim was that there’s a significant disparity between UGA and LSU, especially defensively. And that disparity is *more* than adequately supported by these crazy things called facts, which you conveniently ignore in your cherry-picked defense of our joke of a defense.

The disparity certainly does narrow with respect to Passes Defended and Total Defense. But in the former case, at least, the raw numbers still tell you all you need to know, as LSU has defended *almost twice as many* passes as we have, in the same number of games. Once again, this is because our LBs and DBs are typically *nowhere near* the opposing receivers.

Sorry, but I still think the numbers suggest that LSU is on a different level than we are, especially defensively. And of course, even if you disagree with this particular comparison, my overall point still stands. For if you like, you can just read back through my original comment, this time removing any reference to LSU specifically, and it’ll all still be true. There’s an “upper tier” in the SEC, and for a while there, a couple seasons ago, it looked like we were either *on* it, or at least very close to being on it — due primarily to an apparently improving defense. But ever since then, the defense has been *rapidly* regressing.

Agree with most of your points, TF, and won’t use the strength of schedule excuse…don’t want to sound like the OBC. Someone on this blog or another made the point that Bama and LSU seem to replace their defenses each year on the fly without this “youth” excuse..why not UGA? Given the Vandy, AppSt, and bye weeks maybe CTG and staff can do some reality coaching. Kudos to the fans Sat and to the reserves who gave props to those pressed into service many times on the sidelines. I see the Bobo haters are out in fordce again…undeservedly so. Go Dawgs!!

Even if you think recruiting websites often get things wrong — and of course, they do — the overall data proves over and over again that these scouts are onto something. So one way — and it’s only one — to measure the difference is just to go back through the past few years of recruiting data, and compare Georgia’s and Missouri’s numbers. Even with all the injuries on our side, Missouri doesn’t come close to us in terms of raw talent.

And of course, that’s precisely my point: We’re clearly better than Missouri *strictly in terms of raw talent*. And yet, they still spanked us. Maty Mauk? Are you kidding me? The premier defenses in the SEC would make Maty Mauk look like precisely what he is: A true freshman with mediocre skills. We made him look like a talented senior, totally unshaken by the hostile environment.

I believe they signed the top receiver in the country last year—Green-Beckham, and two of the top defensive linemen…no matter what bullshit you see in the recruiting services, I saw speed and explosiveness on offense and the same on defense…I did not see a great talent disparity, except their receivers are a whole lot taller than our cornerbacks.

This is a straw man. Where did I say that Maty Mauk — or any other Missouri player, for that matter — “can’t play”? I’ll answer for you: I didn’t. I simply said that there’s an undeniable overall disparity between UGA and Missouri in terms of raw talent, and that’s simply true. (And seriously: Do you honestly think that Alabama would’ve surrendered two 4th-quarter TDs to a Maty Mauk-led Missouri offense … in Tuscaloosa? Again, I’ll answer for you: No. No, they would not.)

Yes, Missouri signed some good players this past recruiting season (though they signed DGB the season before last). Enough to earn them the 41st-ranked class in the country. Meanwhile, Georgia signed the 12th-ranked class in the country. Average ranks for the three years before that: Missouri – 33.33; Georgia – 10.67. By any objective measure, we fielded a much more talented team overall yesterday — again, even with the injuries to key players. So you can keep trying your best to “Pupgrade” the Tigers all you want — though, I think that’s typically reserved for teams we actually beat. But my point still stands.

For the record: No one seems to be objecting to my “big picture” diagnosis. You’re all opting instead to nit-pick points like whether or not we’re *that much* more talented than Missouri. In the meantime, we’re all crossing our fingers, hoping to escape Nashville with a win over the mighty Commodores. And win or lose, you can bet that we’re going to make someone named Austyn Carta-Samuels look All-World. Or are you going to tell me all about his impressive high school stats, too?

Just when I thought I might be too hard on Grantham this weekend you had to go and pull out stats and stuff. Now I am firmly in your court. So disappointed to realize that Grantham was probably the wrong hire.

I heard on one of the ESPN U shows this morning that SC was now in the drivers seat in the East….Wha wha what? I see Mizzou having a hard time vs SC and UF even with them coming to Columbia. There is still potential for UGA in the SEC championship game. I’d hold out Gurley this week too if he is less than 90%. We can beat Vandy with Green and Douglas.

Aww, let ’em think it. It’s as set up for us as it ever was; UF has lost in conference, we beat SC, and Missouri will not be running the table with that QB. Perhaps they think we’ll be losing to UF. They have another thing coming, IMO, if Gurley and Bennett are back for that.

Thoughts:
> Our safeties might as well not even be on the field. They play so deep and then don’t bother to move toward anyone in coverage or in run support. Swann looks like crap, but he is getting no help over the top. Corey Moore looks totally disinterested in the game. Matthews can’t get healthy fast enough. The safeties are the biggest issue on defense IMO.
> I agree that Shaq Wiggins looks to be a player. On that double pass, the LBs should have gotten off their blocks and been all over the guy throwing it.
> Ramik Wilson is just not very good. I have no idea how he leads the league in tackles, but he is absolutely terrible in coverage and I saw him get blocked by a Missouri player who was already engaged with another UGA defender on several plays.
> While the DBs are the biggest issue, the LBs might be the biggest mystery. This group looked highly talented on paper before the season, but just doesn’t seem to be very good, particularly in coverage. What has happened to Jenkins? He has been AWOL.
> The ST’s failure this week doesn’t jump off the paper, but the 43-yard kickoff return after our first possession of the 2nd half allowed them to bury us inside our 5 even though the defense got a stop. Basically, cost us a possession at a crucial juncture of the game.
> Douglas’ fumble was a dagger. Really thought we were going to score there and then get possession after the half to make it a one possession game.
> If Gurley plays, we win IMO. Murray felt he had to do everything himself (and not without reason). Would have been great to have been able to feed #3 to relieve some of the pressure and negate their speed rush.

With Gurley, we likely score before half time, are able to general execute the offense better, and control the game more in the second half. The defense is a disaster, but the game was pretty close anyway. Having arguably the best player in the country back in the game would have been enough to swing things in our favor.

I couldn’t believe the way the LBs and DLs stood back and watched that WR load up and throw the pass. That single play was as bad as I’ve seen since ’08 Georgia Tech….it’s one thing to be fooled; it’s another to not recognize what’s going on around you so you just stand around like statue with the offensive does what it wants.

Have they no trust in each other at all? Hey, I’ll get in the guy’s face because if he decides to run I’ve got three guys here backing me up? And there were really only two players to defend, the WR and the WR–did C. Moore think the passing WR would go through his reads and dump down to the third option (yeah, right…a WR) if he committed to the deep man?? Is that why he didn’t sprint to the guy in the end zone??

More than anyone, CMR knows where things stand and has earned the benefit of the doubt to still get this team to Atlanta. He’s chosen a very conservative philosophy on ST play and is still getting burned by some terrible execution from players who should know better (Hicks, Theus, Barber, etc.). All you can do is keep coaching, not get more aggressive with guys that have yet to fully prove they can do the basics routinely in their sleep.

Grantham is the real wildcard here. I doubt he and CMR are all that close anyway. He was a mercenary hire, and with his NFL experience, knows he can be axed at any time. So a few things to watch for: Does he believe he has the players to make things happen this season? If so, can he coach them up? I’m sure CMR is going to be pretty clear with an ultimatum and let Todd be on the hot seat rather than ride that roller-coaster himself again. But if this group of kids just aren’t going to come around this season, does Todd work more on his resume and LinkedIn contacts?

The clue/hope/prayer I take away from yesterday’s debacle is the defense in the 3rd quarter. After CTG laid down the facts of life, they did seem to respond as they should and made several key stops in a row. So the potential is there…maybe he can fix it, and is still willing to try.

But if I’m Vandy, I’m throwing deep and often, running the option, and keeping the pace fast on offense. We’ve shown ZERO ability to adjust to that. Add their penchant for chop-blocking which I’m sure they’ll target Drew and Floyd with plus Franklin’s burning desire to show-up Grantham and I just don’t have a good feeling about going to Nashville.

We fans base our talent evaluation on the ratings from high school and are shocked when these 4 & 5 stars get their butts handed to them by real men. The guys Missouri had lining up on their defense are D1 players too. Their rush guys did a much better job getting by our great OT’s than our guys got by theirs. Most of our sacks were on stunts, which is great since Garner never would let our guys stunt. The point I’m making is our starting 22 before injury was very good but not Alabama good. We beat SC and LSU close but once the O was killed by the injuries our O just became average except for Aaron. Aaron God bless him has carried this team as far as he can. He will go down with Eric Zier and Stafford as a great QB that just couldn’t win the SECC. Hey we’re Georgia that’s how we roll. Will we even win the East this year? I think right now we have a 25% chance. Mizzo might only lose one to either SC or UF. UF and SC are going to eliminate one of them. My bets on the Ole Ball Sack, he can smell the blood and has karma on his side given what we did to him the last two years.

In my rambling way I guess I’m trying to say that if you are a long time UGA fan your pretty much used to what’s happening. It doesn’t make it easy but hey it’s the Georgia Way.

Question: What is it with the SEC East and injuries the last couple of years?

Observation: Watching Texas Am and Ole Miss last night, it just becomes more and more obvious that you can’t play defense anymore. The only answer a defense can possibly have to offensive execution is physical disruption, and that’s largely been legislated out of the game. Meanwhile, offensive execution has become lights out. As long as the QB and the receiver are on the same page reading the coverages, the QB is going to complete 65% of his passes. And if the QB can run around a little on those plays where the defense guesses right, it just gets more ridiculous. Throw in substitution rules which allow an offense to lock-in mismatches for 4 or 5 plays in a row, and eventually you’re just hoping someone gets a finger on the ball and creates a turn-over or two. In this day and age, I don’t know what the answer is.

Game I wish I had taped: Oklahoma and Texas. Maybe Stoops should spend a little less time pondering SEC propaganda and a little more figuring out how not to get physically dominated by a team that got physically dominated by Ole Miss.

“Observation: Watching Texas Am and Ole Miss last night, it just becomes more and more obvious that you can’t play defense anymore.” THATS B.S.

Alabama has given up 30 points only twice in the past four seasons. LSU only 4 times, the Gators 8 times and South Carolina 9 times. Meanwho;e UGA has given up 30 times 18 times since the start of 2010, which is 4 more games than Vanderbilt. Just because offenses have gotten better isn’t an excuse to get torched every week. Tenn. was hardly an offensive juggernaut until they played us.

I never said that Grantham was getting the most out of his players or putting the best defense on the field that Georigia fans should expect. But it’s easy to forget that just a few years ago, 31-28 was considered a total shoot out. Now it’s an average score. Alabama and LSU recruit waves of defensive talent in states where the best athletes often want to play defense, and even Saban managed to make Garcia and Jordan Jefferson look unbeatable in 2010 for a couple of games.

Richt has not hired well on the defensive side of the ball. But the game on that side of the ball has changed in some dramatic ways recently.

It is a pretty widely agreed upon belief in both CFL and NFL that a coach has about a 10 year shelf life at a team. After that, the message just isn’t getting through and its time for a change.

You can see examples right now, with Andy Reid in KC and John Fox in Denver. There have been countless examples in both CFL and NFL.

CMR is a great man and did amazing things for us. He resuscitated UGA football. But year after year its “discipline”, kids underperforming, an ancient S&C program, lack of accountability in the coaching ranks, etc.

Isn’t it time to move on?

The SEC east has been down for the last 5 years. FL and Tenn went to crap. It should tell you something that its GA vs. Car every year for the SEC east title. Getting to the SECCG 2 years isn’t such a marvelous thing – especially since we backed into it both times.

The only way CMR wins a title at this point is some kind of incredible planetary alignment.

But we couldn’t do it with Stafford, AJ Green, Knowshon, MoMass, and 9 NFL players on defense.

We couldn’t do it with Murray, Mitchel, Gurley, Marshall, and 7 NFL players on defense.

This is college football, not the pros. You may have heard that coaches sometimes last more than ten years, and even win NCs and other good things later in their careers. I may have heard of that happening at a school in Georgia, but I can’t recall which one…help me out here.

Fine. When things get tough, every worm has the chance to crawl out from under its rock.
Just stand over there in the corner while we make fun of you – both now for being myopic, and later when things get rolling again. Oh and wear orange while you’re at it. Or gold.

All of that is simply ludicrous. Richt is a tremendous blessing. Dude knows how to win and has virtually reinvented himself.

If you want a different discipline standard, you might ought to pick another team because ours ain’t changing, per the AD.

We win a bunch. We don’t win them all. No one does. Why is that so hard to understand? I’m pretty sure that shaw dude can coach and that Stanford team wet the bed in Salt Lake. It happens. Injuries killed us and our mistakes magnified them and the schedule finally caught up with us. Auburn played Western Carolina yesterday. We play western and we win. But the schedule said “Mizzou” and they were too good for the mistakes and depleted roster.

Unlike the CFL (In can’t believe you’re citing that) and the NFL, in college rosters turn over every 4+/- years. Any real question that a healthy UGA team is headed to Atlanta (and this team still might with a win against a Florida team -who is as bad on offense as we are on defense. That would be three trips to the SECC in years 11-13. Shelf life huh?

The maginot Line was a line of heavy fortifications and artillery that the French built on their eastern border before WW II that was supposed to protect from invaders, ostensibly Germany. it was an obsolete idea which the Germans easily bypassed. PNW simply meant that Our defense may be flawedmay be

The real question we should be thinking about is, what will UGA do to lure someone worth a crap into the job once Richt calls it a day? Yes, Richt will call it a day at some point, as he has stated that he wants to do mission work at some point and he aint getting any younger. From the way UGA seems to pinch every penny, I feel that they may take the cheap route.

Regarding penalties, and I am not blaming the calls or any conspiracy, wasn’t that a blown call on the horse collar or do I not understand the rule? Replay clearly showed the tackle was made by grabbing the jersey below the neckline. I can see how that may have looked from a different angle but that was a big miss that hurt a struggling defense.

That p*ssed me off to no end — IF it is not called, Missouri has a 3rd-and-like 13. Also, call me a jaded homer but how is Herrera whistled for the roughing penalty but the Tigerdude not with an extra step to tee off on Murray? That was after the wayward throw that was intercepted at the UGa 40yl.

Yes, they missed that PF on Murray, and I am sure they missed some on us but the horse collar really hurt. There is some fool on the Missouri site who feels we should have been flagged for a PF on the play where Franklin was injured, this guy is a total fool but you can never please fans when it comes to calls. Some TN fans swear that Pig didn’t actually fumble the play at the goal line in OT last week. Now that takes some imagination! On the Franklin call it was simply a continuation play where no late hit was involved, similar to the play where Gurley was hurt out of bounds but the contact was initiated during the play. Just something that happens in football, unfortunately those took out two very good guys, and players.

Vandy has been off a week. On the road again in Tennessee. Rumor has it Gurley will not play. If he misses that one, for all purposes he has missed 4 games this season. That be a 3rd of the season. Just wondergin what is takes for Dawgs to have a full season TB. For some reason I just do not remember CMR having one.

Great post, Senator. I agree with everything, except for a few picky points, which time prohibits getting into. But you hit almost everything dead on.

Bottom line, we just reverted back to our old ways and beat ourselves, yet again. The 4 turnovers themselves were enough to get beat, but were just part of the self-destruction yesterday.

The secondary is so poorly coached. Yes, there are freshmen back there who can’t be very solid, but they should be further along than they are. Swann, who has never been consistent at Georgia, was at it again, getting beat right and left. Lakatos has not coached these young guys up, and I can’t believe it’s the fault of the players (except for Moore).

Speaking of Moore, how bad is it to be a 4th year player, and still not have a clue what’s going on half the time. Goodness.

The DL continues to improve, IMHO, but the second and third levels are a mess. Wilson seems to be getting results from his players. They played fast, played hard, were aggressive and intense. Not so with the other positions on defense.

The game in Vanderbilt will be a problem if we don’t regroup and get our act together. It was a tough first-half stretch, that we should have been able to handle. But we couldn’t finish it. We should have been able to pass the test yesterday.

But we couldn’t. Instead, it looks like we’re still in what has been a multi-year process of learning how not to beat yourself.

And that’s so disappointing. Maybe by next year? Dear, Lord. Well, let’s just hope we don’t get stuck in that same old rut again. That we get back on track, and continue learning how to win.

“Any time you’ve got young guys, there’s going to be a lapse or two or a thing here that can extend a drive or create a seam or allow them to make some plays,” Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said. “I’m pleased with their effort. I don’t see anything wrong with their effort. They keep competing. It’s more a matter of execution and getting some experience.”

“When you play at the level we play at, you’ve got to be on technique-wise and with your effort and with your ability to play fast. If you’re off in any of those areas, it’s going to create seams, which allow for big plays and to continue drives,” Grantham said.

“You’ve got to get off the field on third down,” Grantham said. “When you get them to third down, you’ve got to get off the field. Third down extends drives and extends their chances to be on the field. That’s the main thing. That’s a big issue, obviously.”

THAT SHOULD ERASE ANY HOPE FOR THOSE OF YOU STILL BELIEVING IN GRANTHAM. HE SEES NOTHING WRONG BUT INEXPERIENCE. THE COACHING AND PREPARATION ARE FINE. THE FUNDAMENTALS ARE FINE.

BASICALLY, UNDER HIS SYSTEM, WE HAVE TO HAVE EXPERIENCED PLAYERS WITH FLAWLESS TECHNIQUE AND AN ABILITY TO PLAY FAST. GEE, I FEEL BETTER. ITS ONLY BEEN 3.5 YEARS OF WAIT FOR ALL OF THESE STARS TO ALIGN.

Do you think the Dawgs will recruit some RBs, LBs , and DBs. Do you think the FB will get back into the running game again. Why are there so many QBs on the roster and only one has played the past 3+ years. Throw out 4 turnovers, 2 pics by QB and 1 fumble by QB, Dawgs probably win even though handicapped. Won the “stats”.

Ray Drew…wow! Nice running, JJ. You too Brendan…just hold on to the ball. The team showed a lot of heart…but that sums up the kudos.

What happened to Swann and Jenkins? They were supposed to be our anchors. Amarlo is great…but he and Ramik are a lot slower than Ogletree…and we miss that speed. I’ll forgive the penalty…once.

Turnovers and injuries killed us. Difference makers win football games and we missed Gurley and Marshall bad.

Name a defense that looks more confused. I haven’t seen one. We need better cornerback play. I think the freshmen are coming along fine, but we need more depth and if Swann gets benched I think the team is better. And didn’t we think we saw the last of rushing three on 3rd and long against LSU??

We have a pocket QB, and a bunch of pocket QBs in the pipeline. We need our OTs to be able to block speed rushers. Relying on RBs to help isn’t the answer.

Overall, I’m very happy with the team but I’ve run out of hope on Grantham being the answer at DC.

Quote Of The Day

“I’m thrilled for this day to get here, and I’m excited to find out how a lot of these new guys learn. These practices are not easy, and the idea is to create adversity for your team and find out who your leaders are.” — Kirby Smart, Chattanooga Times Free Press, 8/1/17